KIRKUS REVIEW

The creator of Buck Schatz (Don’t Ever Look Back, 2014,
etc.) takes a giant leap back in time to present a murder solved by George
Gordon Noel, Lord Byron.

Young Byron, buoyed by the debut of Hours of Idleness
(and quite impervious to its largely negative reviews), lives life as befits a
noble young gentleman at Trinity College, Cambridge. He shares his spacious
quarters in Nevile’s Court with his valet, Joe Murray, and The Professor, a
partly tame bear. Avoiding classes likely to stifle his genius, he spends his
time drinking and seducing young women. But when the charms of consorts like
Violet Tower pall, he turns his talents to crime investigation. After all,
shouldn’t the world’s greatest poet also be the world’s greatest detective? The
murder of Felicity Whippleby, a young woman living in Cambridge in hopes of
gaining an education (and perhaps also a husband) through sheer propinquity,
provides fertile ground for his talents, and being barred from the murder scene
by Constable Angus Buford merely whets his appetite. Soon the young lord is
joined by two professional sleuths, whip-smart Sir Archibald Knifing and
bumbling Fielding Dingle, presumably dispatched by Felicity’s father, Lord
Whippleby. But why send two detectives? And what do they have to detect, since
Byron is convinced from the outset that Felicity was killed by her fiance, Leif
Sedgewyck? It takes several crates of wine, a pinch of laudanum, and an
avalanche of additional corpses to test whether Byron’s theory is correct.

Whether the young rake is charming despite or because of his
nonstop sarcasm, egoism, and debauchery will depend on the reader’s tastes. But
given Byron’s short life span, Friedman will need to check back with his hero
every few months in order to stretch his series to more than a few volumes.

Be the first to discover new talent!
Each week, our editors select the one author and one book they believe to be most worthy of your attention and highlight them in our Pro Connect email alert.
Sign up here to receive your FREE alerts.